Abstract
The term atmosphere originally stems from meteorology but it has metaphorically been used since the Goethe-Epoch in all European languages. This metaphorical usage expresses the idea of a tuned space, that is, a space endowed with a mood. By examining the tight connections existing between atmospheres and smell, this chapter aims to show that smells are crucial factors in the generation of atmospheres. The lack of distance within the experience of smelling can lead to totally getting lost in it, so that the atmosphere of smelling may become the world in which we are. Thus, such an experience can be the event of profane mystics that one may call smelling a pure joy.
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Acknowledgement
My thanks go to my son-in-law Dr Andrew Wold who as a native speaker checked my translation of this chapter.
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Böhme, G. (2019). Smell and Atmosphere. In: Griffero, T., Tedeschini, M. (eds) Atmosphere and Aesthetics. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24942-7_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24942-7_15
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